In a conventional central vacuum system installed in a building for example, each room of the building is provided with a wall fixture. One end of a flexible hose has a mating fixture that can be inserted into the wall fixture, and a vacuum will be provided at the free end of the hose once the motor of the vacuum system is activated. The user then can vacuum in that room. Unfortunately, the detachable hose is seldom located handily in the room in which the user desires to use the vacuum. This nonavailability of the hose poses a major inconvenience for what is intended to be a system that provides greater convenience than using a conventional vacuum cleaner. Moreover, even if a separate hose were stored in every room, the storage of that hose presents its own inconveniences, especially if storage space is not available in proximity to the vacuum outlet for the system in that room. Additionally, the aforementioned inconveniences become magnified when they persist in rooms where frequent vacuumings are required because the activities that take place in such rooms repeatedly generate waste that requires vacuuming.
A retractable hose central vacuum cleaning system apparatus and method is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. U.S. 2005/0022329 A1. In this system 10, a retractable vacuum hose 12 is stored within a vacuum pipe 18 when not in use and is constrained in the deployed configuration by a clamp 80 that is opened or closed by operation of a clamp lever 82, which when closed will lock the vacuum hose 12 in a position that prevents further deployment or retraction of the hose. The clamp 80 is housed within a valve housing 22 that can be installed within a standard wall construction between wall surfaces through an opening in the wall. The typical full length of the hose is about 35 feet, and accordingly the full deployment of 35 feet of hose can pose a tripping hazard.
Moreover, storage of this length of hose requires a commensurate length of pipe inside the wall in which to store the hose when not in use. Because of the heights of walls and lengths of floors in the typical residence, the storage pipe typically must make at least one 90 degree bend in order to provide the full 35 foot length of storage needed to accommodate the length of hose that needs to be stored.
The vacuum must be operating in order to assist in the retraction of the hose into the storage pipe. The clamp must be manipulated both to hold the hose in the deployed configuration as well as to permit the deployed hose to be retracted. Because the clamp must provide sufficient constricting force to withstand the suction of the vacuum when the hose deployed from the storage pipe, and because the space within the valve housing 22 is limited, substantial operator force must be applied to operate the clamp from the open to closed position and vice versa. Accordingly, the operator requires both hands to withdraw the hose and set the clamp once the desired length of hose has been withdrawn. Moreover, if the clamp should become loosened inadvertently, and the end of the deployed hose jerked away from the operator's hand, the vacuum sucking the hose 12 back into the storage pipe 18 can cause the hose to whip around in a manner that could cause damage to objects and beings in the surroundings.